【推荐1】Are flash floods becoming more severe? Natural disasters are generally getting worse—and that's true for floods, too.

As climate change warms the atmosphere, extreme rainfall is rising, which increases the risk of flash floods. Heavy precipitation(降水) events are predicted to increase by 2 to 3 times the historical average. The Federal Emergency Management Agency expects the nation’s floodplains to expand by 45 percent by the end of this century, as the agency reported in a recent study. A study in early 2021 found that increased precipitation—resulting partially from climate change—costs the US an additional $ 2.5 billion each year in flood damage. And some studies show that flood frequency was increasing in the Mississippi River valley and across the Midwest in the last century, as well as in the Northeast over the past 50 years.

There are several steps you can take to prepare for flash floods

First, know the level of risk by looking at flood maps. You may be required to have flood insurance if you live in a high-risk area.

Pay attention to flash flood watches, which the National Weather Service issues to indicate when conditions could result.in flash floods. People in these areas-should be-ready to take action—particularly if the NWS announces a flash flood warning. That’s issued when flash floods are approaching and, at that point, people should immediately leave the area.

But be particularly careful when travelling by car. Don’t drive through flooded streets—it's difficult to judge the water depth, and roadways hidden below the water can collapse. If floodwaters cause your vehicle to lose control, abandon it and seek the higher ground. Rapidly rising water can sweep the vehicle away. Know your surroundings and head to the higher ground, and listen to the radio updates when in a flood.

It’s also important to develop an emergency prepared plan with your family or those you live with to have a few days’ worth of resources.

【推荐1】A couple, Jake Williams and Charlotte Sinclair, were absolutely done with the long isolation (隔离), following a few years of COVID-19, and then they decided to launch (发起) a community plan. They started Talk the Walk and managed to make people get together, explore London on foot, and get to know each other.

The number one mission was to have fun — even if only a few people showed up for the free events. That’s what they expected when they started on Meetup.com. Suddenly they were getting hundreds of people responding with excitement.

200-300 people of various ages now regularly attend each event, which opens with the playing of icebreaker games. The couple designed the games to be easy for shy people, too, with “fun questions” breaking the nervousness. They picked interesting places to visit. Attendees were even surprised with an offer of chocolate.

“I’ve done some crazy things in my time working from home to stop loneliness, like dog sitting for people and joining gyms just so I can have more conversations with people,” Jake said.

“I think that it’s hugely impactful for people who have been affected by COVID-19, by being forced to work from home and having that isolation,” he continued.

They’ve seen older people talking with younger people, and people becoming friends — so much so that the strangers are now meeting on their own after becoming familiar.

Talk the Walk organised their last event last year, but said they’ll be back once it starts to warm up again.

Nearly 2,000 members in their Meetup community and followers on their Facebook Page are waiting for that day, but at the same time, this young couple might serve as your very own inspiration to connect people in your own communities.

【推荐3】Travis Gienger set a record for growing the world’s heaviest pumpkin, which weighed about 1,247 kilograms, in 2023. The middle-aged man was named the winner on Monday of the 50th Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. He won the same con test in 2022, whose pumpkin weighed 1,161 kilograms. The past world record for the heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 1,226-kilogram pumpkin in 2021. “I was not expecting that,” Gienger said. He added that it felt good to win the world record.

Gienger is a teacher at Anoka Technical College in Anoka, Minnesota. He teaches agriculture and growing methods. And he has been producing pumpkins for nearly 30 years like his elders, especially his father, who used to raise pumpkins in the home property, which got him interested in planting. Gienger later devoted himself to working the land to plant.

Gienger first competed in Half Moon Bay’s yearly con test in 2020. He won three of the city’s last four pumpkin contests. “I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces, and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town,” Gienger said.

Gienger, who grew the pumpkins on the farm, had given his plants more care. This included watering them up to 12 times a day and feeding or fertilizing them, a little more than usual. Those contributed to his greater success in 2023.

The pumpkin champion won a $30,000 prize for growing the biggest pumpkin and setting a world record. Gienger’s pumpkin would be shown along with the second-place winners at the city’s upcoming Pumpkin Festival. At the event, visitors would be able to look at the pumpkin prize and take pictures with the growers.

In the United States, pumpkins are popular throughout the autumn. During the US holiday Halloween, on October 31, many people turn them into “jack-o’-lanterns”. A jack-o’-lantern is a pumpkin that has been carved, usually to show a frightening or funny face.